What's the best option to give my guys the ideal chances when hitting the beaches on the drive south?

Load up my combat brigades on the safe haven of Truk and offload them directly onto the enemy shores ? Or unload them for a day or two at somewhere midway like Tulagi, to rest up a bit before the assault ? I'm gussing all the extra unloading and loading required at the latter plus the maleria there may screw them up a little ?

If I remember right, they'll get worn out by fatigue and such a bit on the way. But if u unload them on the way it'll screwed up some more. Its been quite a while since i played UV though. Do u have any units closer than truk? What's ur ultimate objective for these troops?

I am used to ship the bulk of the troops south immeadiately after their arrival, say towards Rabaul or The Shortlands. Launching an invasion of some scale would mean to embark the troops from there and get them to the destination. Of course your troops won´t be "rested" down at zero fatigue, but it is still better than carrying them all the way down from Truk far up north. This is even more important in the case you need to react to an enemy invasion somewhere in your realm.

Another hint: try to use only small or medium size (1000/2000) freighters for an offensive landing. The bigger ships are much too slow to throw troops ashore!